Fred Frith Trio at Starline Social Club

When: Thu., Dec. 21, 7:30 p.m. 2017

Photo by Heike Liss

In avant-garde circles, Fred Frith is a legend. Like a chameleon, he’s able to adapt to whomever he’s playing with and slide from project to project creating all this diverse music. Yet he’s remained relatively unknown to a wider audience. His output is prolific — he’s appeared on more than 400 records — and his magic seems to rely on his collaboration skills: He gains the essence of whomever he’s playing with — be it John Zorn, The Residents, or Bill Laswell — while still creating something that’s distinctly his own. In 2013, he formed the Fred Frith Trio here in Oakland, a fully improvised group with bassist Jason Hoopes and drummer Jordan Glenn. In 2016, the group recorded the brilliant Another Day in Fucking Paradise, a far less chaotic record than you might expect. It’s actually quite ambient and contemplative as far as improvised avant-garde music goes.